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Who's Who - Walter Rathenau

Walter Rathenau (1867-1922) served as
head of the German KRA economic war management department from 1914-15.

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Rathenau was an
industrialist; his father was also head of the giant electrical group AEG.
When war broke out in August 1914 (a war he believed would be lengthy)
Rathenau approached
Erich Falkenhayn, then Prussian War Minister, with a plan for
centralised management and distribution of crucial war supplies.

Falkenhayn quickly saw the
sense of Rathenau's plan - which was in itself adapted from one prepared
earlier by an AEG employee (von Mollendorf) - and Rathenau soon found
himself appointed head of the KRA.

Rathenau's patriotism was
undeniable but it was perhaps inevitable that contracts for production of
important supplies invariably ended up in the hands of the largest
suppliers, including AEG, to the exclusion of smaller manufacturers.

Rathenau's tenure as head
of the KRA was relatively brief however. In April 1915 he was forced
to resign on account of his Jewish background, with the businesses the KRA
administered demonstrating resentment at the notion of operating under what
they believed amounted to Jewish direction.

Rathenau thereafter
returned to his business at AEG, becoming chairman upon his father's death
in June 1915. He remained active in politics however, and helped pave
the way for the Third Supreme Command, the effective military/industrial
dictatorship led by
Hindenburg and
Ludendorff.

Despite offering support
for Hindenburg and Ludendorff's policies he was clear in his opposition to
the adoption of a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare (without success,
and which was ultimately responsible for drawing the U.S. into the war in
April 1917). He similarly opposed Ludendorff's annexationist ambitions
in the east.

In favour of resistance to
the Allies right up until the end of the war, Rathenau joined the Democratic
Party following agreement of the
armistice.
He served as Minister for Reconstruction from 1919-21 and as Foreign
Minister in 1922.

Rathenau was murdered by
right-wing extremists in Berlin in June 1922, two months after
controversially signing the Treaty of Rapallo with the Soviet Union.

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Saturday, 22 August, 2009Michael Duffy

The financial cost of the war is said to have amounted to almost $38 billion for Germany alone; Britain spent $35 billion, France $24 billion, Russia $22 billion, USA $22 billion and Austria-Hungary $20 billion. In total the war cost the Allies around $125 billion; the Central Powers $60 billion.